Gwangju Technical High School in the southwestern city has launched night self-study sessions for the first time since its founding and now serves dinner to students staying late. Hundreds of students remain at school past 9 p.m. to prepare for certifications, and the lights rarely go out. Such programs are still rare at vocational high schools.
After years of struggling to fill its freshman quota due to a declining population and negative perceptions of vocational education, the school saw a turnaround this year, with 160 applicants for just 144 spots. Principal Park Tae-ho said the school once focused on managing students with behavioral issues, but since about two years ago, academic performance has improved, creating a more focused atmosphere. “As college degrees became easier to obtain but offered less job security, more students chose to develop competitive technical skills and seek employment earlier,” he explained. More than half of this year’s freshmen earned at least one national technical certification within three months of enrollment.
As interest in blue-collar jobs grows among the younger generation, vocational high schools are experiencing a revival. In cities like Gwangju, Daegu, and Incheon, the surge in vocational school applicants has led many rejected students to enroll in general high schools, reversing the traditional trend. Analysts see this as an early sign of a “blue-collar bonanza,” similar to trends in the U.S. and Europe, where Generation Z is increasingly pursuing skilled trades.
According to the Gwangju Metropolitan City Office of Education, 2,271 students applied for 1,815 vocational high school seats in the 2025 school year, leaving 456 students unplaced. Many of those students enrolled in general high schools. Vocational schools in Gwangju struggled to fill their quotas until 2022 but reached full capacity in 2023. This year, applications surpassed available spots by several hundred.
Vocational schools had been losing popularity for years as social pressure pushed students to attend college regardless of their interests or abilities. Many viewed vocational schools as a fallback option for students with lower grades.
A Gwangju education official said the rising popularity of vocational schools is linked to better job prospects. “More people now recognize that vocational school graduates find good jobs more quickly than university students,” the official explained.
In Daegu, 4,840 students applied for 3,618 vocational school slots, causing a rare decline in general high school applicants. For the first time in decades, the number of applicants for general high schools in Daegu fell short by 527. In Incheon, 5,271 students applied for 4,524 vocational school spots. Seoul vocational schools also saw increased interest, with 12,102 applicants for 10,234 openings, bringing the enrollment rate to 94.7%, up more than 10 percentage points from 84.4% in 2021.
Bae Young-chan, emeritus professor at Hanyang University, said recent economic downturns combined with high college admission rates and labor market mismatches have increased interest in high-paying blue-collar jobs. He added, “This could be a turning point toward improving the distorted social structure created by academic elitism.”
0 Komentar